The number one issue for shoppers with using mobile payments is the fact that they are required to go through lengthy account creations in each digital retail environment with multiple retailers before they can complete a purchase. The total amount of revenue currently being lost by users exiting at the checkout as a result of an inefficient purchasing process is £2.4 billion – £470 million of that is due to the required registration process. So finds research carried out by customer data platform QuBit, analysed 18,000 shopper journeys to investigate where and why they ‘drop out’ for Mobile Money Network.
There has been little innovation in the checkout experience over the last 16 years. The report highlights that the point of transaction is due a major upgrade. With the emergence of new technologies, the retail industry is in a state of flux with mobile technology in particular completely changing the game for consumers allowing them to transact wherever and whenever they choose.
“The key issue is none of the players in the market are creating a simple payment mechanism that transcends all channels – online, mobile as well as more traditional marketing channels,” says John Milliken, Managing Director of MMN. “We strongly believe that mobile is not a discrete channel and used properly, it is an enabler to improve sales conversion in all channels. Retailers need to reduce the amount of revenue lost due to making it too difficult for consumers to buy from them. That is the challenge we took on when we launched MMN 18 months ago.”
MMN’s vision is to drive improved sales conversion for retailers by putting an instant mobile checkout anywhere a retailer has a communication with a customer. Retailers including Carphone Warehouse, Thorntons and Liam Gallagher’s fashion brand Pretty Green have already integrated MMN’s instant mobile checkout ‘Simply Tap’ at various consumer touch-points including in-store posters, e-commerce sites, m-commerce sites, catalogues, outdoor poster advertising, print advertising and on social media sites such as Facebook.
“The goal is to make it as easy and as quick as possible for consumers to buy from retailers wherever they see a product,” continues John Milliken. “However, the majority of retailers don’t give consumers an opportunity to instantly buy e.g. on social media or from an advert and still require shoppers to go through lengthy, complicated registration and payment processes when they do have something ‘in their basket’. This is akin to standing in a shop queue and not being allowed to go to the cashier without giving up your email address and setting up a password.”
Mobile Money Network believes there are four pillars of checkout innovation required to ensure retailers halt the revenue haemorrhage they are currently experiencing:
1) A simplified checkout process with less steps from purchase intent to transaction completion
2) Centralised information with one single log-on regardless of the retailer you are buying from
3) Retailer collaboration with no need for competitive advantage in the checkout
4) A cross channel approach with a uniform process across all retail and marketing channels
